There is no bona fide evidence that Jesus had a regular “quiet time.” One or two isolated verses describing one or two instances do not a tendency make.
John 18:1-2 is intriguing viz. the relational habits of Jesus and the twelve, but this passage does not speak of devotional practices per se. Neither does Luke 21:37 or Luke 22:39-40. Mark 1:35 is important to note, but it describes only one occasion. Matthew 26 describes Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and we don’t make that out to be an everyday thing.
In almost every available translation of Luke 5:16, a pattern does indeed seem to be in evidence, although the Greek tense and aspect of “withdraw,” taken by some scholars as an “ingressive imperfect,”[1] is ambiguous or even elusive to us moderns. This pattern, assuming it is implied in the Greek, is Jesus’ pattern, though—not necessarily an imperative for the twelve, the one hundred twenty, or the rest of us disciples.
Here are a few thoughts on “quiet time” 20 centuries later:
- I like quiet time. It comes far too seldom in my life.
- Quiet time is better, and more necessary, for some personality types than others. (Being more than somewhat introverted, I am energized by alone time; I tend to be the most creative and productive when I am by myself.) Not all of us are squeezed from the same mold.
- When prayer time comes for me, it is welcome, too brief—mostly owing to distraction—and often occasioned by something. (I’m not very good at following Jesus, but the “occasioned” part does seem to have been a part of the pattern for Him, too, so I don’t think I’m far off the mark in this aspect.)
- Quiet time (now, read “personal devotional time”) is probably more helpful to more of us than many of us want to acknowledge.
- Quiet time should be a servant of the Christian life, not its master.
These are just a few thoughts, not intended to be exhaustive by any stretch. I’ll ask you spare me 1) any guilt-inducing thoughts (“everyone should have a quiet time every day”), 2) assumptions that every Good Christian does this, or 3) appeals to populist, non-exegetically oriented Christian authors, but other than those, what thoughts do you have?
[1] Look it up. I did!
